1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a method of authenticating a user using a server and an image forming apparatus applying the same, and more particularly, to a method of authenticating a user using a server adopting a server message block (SMB) protocol and an image forming apparatus applying the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An active directory is a type of a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) directory service provided by Microsoft Corporation and conventionally used in the Windows operating system environment. Specifically, the active directory provides authentication and authorization services to Windows-based computers. The LDAP requests and revises a directory service. The LDAP, which requests and revises a directory service, is a software protocol that aids in finding the positions of organizations, individuals, or resources (such as files or devices) that are provided on a network (such as the Internet or an enterprise intranet). An active directory server is a server that provides an active directory service, and employs the LDAP.
A server message block (SMB) server is a server using an SMB protocol, which is a network protocol used to share access to files and printer serial ports on a network. Using the SMB protocol, it is possible to share files or printers between a UNIX-like server and a Windows client in a local area network (LAN) environment.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional active directory server 110, an SMB server 120, and a multifunctional peripheral (MFP) 100 that can receive an authentication result from a server 110 and 120.
Referring to FIG. 1, the MFP 100 receives authentication information (such as an identification (ID) and a password) and additional information (such as a domain name) from a user and transmits the ID and the password to the active directory server 110. Thereafter, if the active directory server 110 authenticates the user and sends an authentication result to the MFP 100, the MFP 100 transmits an additional ID, password, and domain name to the SMB server 120. If the additional ID, password, and domain name are authenticated by the SMB server 120, the MFP 100 transmits data to be processed by the SMB server 120.
The active directory server 110 determines if the user using the MFP 100 is a proper user based on the ID and password received from the MFP 100 and transmits the determination result to the MFP 100. Similarly, the SMB server 120 determines if the user using the MFP 100 is a proper user based on the ID, password, and domain name received from the MFP 100, and transmits the determination result to the MFP 100.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a conventional method of authenticating a user using a server and transmitting an authentication result to an MFP 100. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in operation 200, the MFP 100 receives authentication information (such as a user ID and a password) and additional information (such as a domain name) via an interface.
In operation 210, the MFP transmits the received ID and password to an active directory server 110. In response, the MFP 100 receives an authentication result from the active directory server 110 in operation 220.
In operation 230, the MFP 100 determines if the active directory sever 110 successfully authenticates the user based on the received authentication result. If the user is not successfully authenticated by the active directory server 110 (operation 230), the method returns back to operation 200.
Conversely, if the user is successfully authenticated by the active directory server 110 (operation 230), the MFP 100 transmits an additionally stored ID and password along with a domain name to an SMB server 120 in operation 240.
In response, the MFP 100 receives an authentication result from the SMB server 120 and determines if the user is successfully authenticated by the SMB server 120 based on the authentication result in operation 250. If the user is not successfully authenticated by the SMB server 120 (operation 250), the method returns back to operation 200.
Conversely, if the user is successfully authenticated by the SMB server 120 (operation 250), the MFP 100 transmits data to the SMB server 120 in operation 260.
In the above-described conventional method, after receiving the authentication result from the active directory server 110, the MFP 100 transmits a different ID and password to the SMB server 120 (i.e., different than the ID and password transmitted to the active directory server 110). Thus, when authentication information necessary for the MFP 100 to be authenticated by the SMB server 120 is periodically changed, it is inconvenient for a manager to continuously revise authentication information of a plurality of MFPs, and thus, a user should be separately authenticated by the active directory server 110 and the SMB server 120.